A service request is a request from a user for assistance with some aspect of a computing system. A service request may be related to software support as well as hardware support. For example, users may request assistance with installing software or hardware, utilizing a particular feature of an application, system performance problems, disaster recovery, questions associated with configuration or design of a system, as well as other issues. In the area of user support and help desk services, large numbers of repeated identical service requests and similar service requests are received from different users. A repeated service request is a service request associated with the same issue faced by different users. These repeated service requests mean that the same job or task is being done again and again by different support personnel responding to these service requests.
Moreover, these repeated requests increase the volume of service requests received by the support personnel. This greater volume of service requests may lead to increased queue length for requests. This duplication of effort by service personnel responding to repeated service requests is costly, inefficient, and time consuming for both users making the service requests as well as for the service center responding to the requests.